


The Butterfly Effect

by CaffeinatedWriter



Series: The Butterfly Effect [1]
Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Established Relationship, Fix-It, M/M, Mental Health Issues, New Relationship, trans!pete
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 13:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14165463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeinatedWriter/pseuds/CaffeinatedWriter
Summary: Pete introduces himself to the new kid.





	The Butterfly Effect

Everyone’s talking about the new kid.

They had been, as far as Pete knows, since the middle of the summer when his name showed up on the dorm list, new and endlessly interesting the way out-of-towners always were. Pete can’t remember the last time either of the two schools welcomed anyone who hadn’t spent their whole life in the bubble that was Bullworth.

Gary’s been obsessing over it which Pete knows is partly just who Gary is and a wholly more terrifying part of whatever this thing is he’s been dealing with since the summer.

The phone calls had been numerous during the month Pete was on the west coast visiting family.

It was nice; it’d never been like that the summers before. He’d never let it be and something about the near constant contact even with Pete hundreds of miles away made the new thing between them seem even more real.

Pete’s always known the full effect of Gary’s affection but it hadn’t prepared him for sleepy phone calls and embarrassed ‘I love you’s and the whole package of openly returning those affections.

He’s witnessing an evolution but it’s still his Gary.

The changes aren’t all good and neither were the phone calls. In all the years they’ve known each other, Pete’s still come to learn so much about Gary in the past three months. So much so, sometimes it feels like he’d never really known Gary to begin with.

Sometimes, thinking back on the less pleasant calls, Pete worries that he’s delved into something he can’t handle. But then he also thinks of a reality where Gary doesn’t tell him, doesn’t tell anyone, the dark heavy thoughts he’s been wrestling with and his stomach plummets.

Something is happening with Gary and it’s scary but the idea that Gary might have dealt with it alone is scarier.

Love isn’t all newly shy declarations and whispered conversations. It’s all the gritty shit in-between too and between the two of them, they’ve got more on their plate than one person could be expected to handle.

They’re not one person though. They never have been. Not since first grade when Pete decided against his better judgement that Gary Smith was someone worth keeping around. Regardless of how their relationship evolved and in what way, they were always a ‘them’.

Not to be that grossly romantic kid in their honeymoon phase but Pete doesn’t think there’s much he and Gary can’t get through together.

This thing, whatever it is, is just a progression of what already is. It’s the same sadness he’s seen flash momentarily in Gary’s eyes. The same nervous energy. The same burst of intense emotion. The same but more and worse and unavoidable.

He can hear it in the way Gary talks about it, unsure. Gary is  _scared_  and Gary is never outwardly scared about anything.

Pete thinks in some way or another, Gary is scared about the arrival of the new kid too. He hasn’t gotten the other boy to admit it but the fixation speaks for itself. It seemed like the closer Pete got to coming home, the more frequently the new kid got brought up.

He’s not sure what that means exactly but Gary’s definitely on edge. That alone has Pete worried but he can’t sympathize the way he thinks he should.

It’s…refreshing. A new person who doesn’t know each of them as intimately as they know each other. Years spent raised together, almost from the cradle. The gossip of Bullworth practically a third parent.

Secrets don’t exist in Bullworth. Certainly none that revolve around the Smith family and with Pete as tightly entwined as he is, he’s never really been allotted the privilege of privacy either.

He’d be lying if he said introducing himself wasn’t at least a little bit self-serving. He’s got his eye on the headboy position now that they’re in high school so it’s in his favor to act as a welcome committee but mostly, it’s that this kid has no idea who he is.

He’ll only ever know Pete as he is right now.

The other kids at Bullworth, in some sort of miraculous small-town solidarity, have been surprisingly, amazingly good about everything in the last year but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been slip-ups. Intentional and otherwise.

It doesn’t really matter; it stung the same.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” Pete asks, cautiously poking his head into the open door of the only remaining single. For a split second, he allows himself to wonder if things had been different, would Gary have ended up rooming with this kid?

Not for the first time since the end of last year, Pete’s filled with that soppy, unnamed warmth that leaves him flushed and embarrassed. It didn’t really matter what would have been. Pete is Gary’s roommate. Pete is  _Gary’s_. Officially and not just in the dead of night when Mrs. Peabody is too tired to catch him sneaking out.

The ginger is staring at him suspiciously from his spot on the bed, letting an awkward silence hang between them.

“I’m Pete. Pete Kowalski,” he tries again, tucking himself nervously into the doorframe.

“So?” the other boy asks with all the disdain that Pete is accustom to in day to day conversation. He huffs softly, less than thrilled at the prospect of another wannabe hot shot in Bullworth.

The other kids will like watching him fumble but it’ll get old quick. Cocky was only cute momentarily, until it got obnoxious.

“So, this is the part where the other person introduces themselves,” Pete answers with obvious faux-patience, unable to keep the snark out of his voice. Gary’s been bad for his ability to keep his thoughts to himself. If Pete’s not careful, he’s going to end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.

Like his dad. Or maybe that ship had sailed when he came out, explosive and honest like he never gets to be.

If that’s what saying the wrong thing feels like, Pete doesn’t care about being right ever again.

The new kid gives him a contemplative look before sighing and moving to stare dramatically at the wall. Pete bites his tongue, careful not to comment in how pathetically wounded and woe as me the entire display is. He’s no stranger to the dramatics of boys but this is pretty bad.

“Jimmy Hopkins,” he answers, “And don’t fucking ask how I’m doing. I’ve been here five minutes and people already want me dead.”

“Yeah well, that’s Bullworth. It’s a dump,” Pete says with the utmost affection. He shrugs, pushing away from the door to join Jimmy. Gary always says Bullworth is ‘their dump’ which Pete thinks he secretly extends to everyone they grew up with.

“Great; I’ve been expelled from anywhere halfway decent,” Jimmy jokes, offering Pete a lopsided grin that’s more smirk than anything. It’s charming. It’s familiar.

“Yeah, I’ve been expelled from anywhere halfway decent cause I’m really  _bad_ ,” mocks a voice from the door and Pete tenses, turning to where Gary’s standing in the doorway looking like he already wants to collect Jimmy’s teeth.

Pete doesn’t like the look in his eyes. Somewhere in the confusing middle ground of trapped and predatory.

“Hey, I thought you were unpacking,” Pete greets, moving to corral him out before this turns into something it doesn’t need to be.

Sometimes Gary needs to be redirected before he sends himself to a place he can’t get himself out of. He’s watched adults attempt it countless times throughout the years with little success but Pete also knows that Gary has a love-hate relationship with Pete telling him what to do.

“Who’s this jackoff?” Gary asks, ignoring Pete’s subtle hint. He scowls over Pete’s head when it’s clear that the smaller boy is blocking him from coming in any further.

“The fuck is your problem, man?” Jimmy demands and Pete can’t see him with his back to the ginger but it sounds like he’s moving closer. He panics, trying to move them forward. The last thing he needs is someone who’s eager to engage Gary in pointless fights.

Gary laughs, pressing forward but he stops dead at the gentle resistance of Pete’s hand on his chest. He looks down and their eyes meet as Pete lightly pushes Gary back towards the door.

“The room is a mess, Gary,” he insists. “Please.” He tries to convey as much authority as he can in his eyes but that kind of forward confidence is still new to him.

Gary maintains eye contact for an uncomfortably long time as silence hangs between them. Pete can feel Jimmy’s eyes on them, curious and invasive. It feels like they’re being dissected so Pete can only imagine how much it must bother Gary.

“Fine. So bossy,” Gary finally grumbles but he’s flushing and his shoulders have started to relax so Pete feels pretty good about it. His hand lingers on the other boy’s chest for a second longer before he catches himself, sliding it off with an embarrassed cough.

That seems to please Gary though because he’s backing up, hands up and the smuggest grin that Pete can hardly stomach with how shitty and charming it is. He rolls his eyes as Gary flips Jimmy off and turns to make his exit.

“See you around, Hopkins,” he calls back as he goes, fortunately in the direction of their room.

Pete only relaxes when he hears a door closing and then the immediate start of some folksy song Pete knows is about bringing down the establishment or otherwise about wanting to die. He smiles despite himself. Gary’s taste in music is so shitty.

“Sorry about him,” he apologizes, turning back to Jimmy who looks dangerously contemplative. “He hasn’t been sleeping so-”

“Do you always make excuses for your asshole friend? Least one of you cares about not getting your ass beat,” Jimmy interrupts and Pete tenses again.

The ginger is right of course but Pete’s tired of hearing it. Jimmy Hopkins doesn’t even know Gary. Has no right to call him an asshole when he himself can’t seem to talk to anyone without an air of self-important hostility. And he sure as fuck doesn’t know Pete.

Snap judgements are dangerous. It seems like Jimmy has made quite a few.

Pete stares back cooly and smiles; the one he uses with teachers and other adults. Pleasant and deceivingly insincere.

“Well, I’ve been doing it for nine years. Why stop now? It was nice to meet you, Jimmy,” he answers dismissively, offering a small wave and backing into the doorway.

“I’m sure,” Jimmy says, watching him.

His cockiness has annoyance bubbling up in the pit of Pete’s stomach. He reminds himself that Jimmy is new and he doesn’t know anything. Bullworth is enough to have anyone on edge. But Jimmy’s not being dismissive of Bullworth; he’s being dismissive of Pete.

“Oh, Jimmy?” he adds as if it’s an afterthought, fingers curling around the doorframe. “Watch yourself.”

“What’s that mean?” Jimmy asks, crossing his arms. Almost amused. Pete smiles back, sharing in that amusement.

“You know. Just some advice from someone who  _cares about not getting your ass beat_.”

Jimmy’s smile drops and Pete shrugs, making his way out of the room without another word.

Pete thinks he can probably get behind this whole ‘getting the last word’ thing.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me [here](http://www.beathimbacktotheghetto.tumblr.com).


End file.
